Ideas to start a horror story with a spooky setting

There was a lighthouse on a rocky, isolated island. The keeper of the lighthouse started to notice strange things. At night, he would see a figure in white walking on the rocks below. One stormy night, the waves were crashing violently against the island. The figure in white suddenly appeared at the top of the lighthouse stairs. The keeper tried to run, but his path was blocked. The figure got closer, and he could see that it had no face. He screamed as it reached out for him, and then he was never seen again. The lighthouse remained abandoned, with its light forever extinguished.

The name 'Moth Lake' itself has an eerie quality. Moths are often associated with the night and things that are a bit strange. The idea of a lake being surrounded by moths gives a sense of mystery and unease. Also, lakes can be very isolated places, and at night, the water can look black and foreboding. The stillness of the water combined with the presence of moths makes it a perfect spooky setting for a horror story.

In a spooky forest, there's a lost hiker. As night falls, he notices strange lights flickering between the trees. He follows them, thinking it might be a way out. But the lights lead him to an old, gnarled tree with a hollow in it. Inside the hollow, he sees a pair of glowing eyes. Suddenly, he hears a howl and realizes he's not alone in this forest haunted by something otherworldly.

Start by introducing a mysterious object. For instance, a young girl discovers an old, ornate box in her attic. It has strange symbols carved on it and gives off an icy cold feeling when she touches it. She can't resist the urge to open it, and as she does, a gust of cold wind blows through the attic, even though all the windows are closed. This object can then be the centerpiece around which the horror of the story unfolds.

Begin with a disturbing event or image. For instance, you could start with a character waking up in a dark room surrounded by strange symbols. This immediately grabs the reader's attention and sets a spooky mood. You also need to establish a sense of mystery right from the start. Make the reader wonder what's going on and why the character is in this situation.

An old, abandoned asylum. Inside, the patients' cells are still filled with their belongings, and there are strange scratches on the walls. The protagonist hears the faint sounds of screams and maniacal laughter echoing through the corridors. It gets even scarier when they find a hidden basement with surgical equipment and signs of inhumane experiments.

Walking through the cemetery, I heard a soft cry. I turned to see a little girl in a white dress. When she looked up, her eyes were black holes that seemed to suck the life out of me.

A good idea to start a horror story could be with an unexplained noise in the middle of the night. For example, the main character wakes up to a strange scratching sound coming from the attic. They're all alone in the house, and the sound is rhythmic and menacing. This immediately creates a sense of unease and mystery, drawing the reader in as they wonder what could be making that noise.

A great start could be a character moving into a new apartment. On the first night, they see a face in the window of the apartment across the street. But when they look again, it's gone. Later, they find out that the apartment has a dark history of disappearances. This discovery, along with the initial sighting, can be the start of a terrifying horror story.

You could set the horror novel in an underwater research station. The characters are cut off from the surface world, and strange things start to happen. Equipment malfunctions, and there are unexplained noises coming from the deep sea outside. They begin to suspect that there's something lurking in the dark waters that doesn't want them there. Maybe it's an ancient sea creature that has been awakened by their presence, or a malevolent spirit that has haunted this part of the ocean for centuries.